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CF-LOUNGE

Friday, 4 June 2010

coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by coraloften known as rain forests of the sea & the most diverse ecosystems on earthcorals are colonies of tiny living animals found in the marine waters containing few nutrientsmost coral reefs are built from stony corals & are formed by polyps that live together in groupsthe polyps secrete a hard carbonate exoskeleton which provides support & protection for the body of each polypreefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny & agitated watersreefs are home & hotel to a large variety of organisms including fish, seabirds, sponges, cnidarians (jellyfish), worms, crustaceans (shrimp, spiny lobsters, cleaner shrimp & crabs), molluscs (cephalopods), echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins & sea cucumbers), sea squirts, sea turtle & sea snakescoral reefs deliver ecosystem services to tourism, fisheries & shoreline protection!credits: livescience, wikipedia, flickr & various source